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Bonjour

I am chandni, Welcome to the spoon of joy, which has been created by labour of my love for cooking and my journey to be savoured. I truely believe that The chief pleasure in cooking does not consist in costly seasoning, or exquisite flavour, but in yourself.” Horace (65-8 B.C.) Roman lyric poet. The spoon of joy is class-cooking-dining experience, brining in together friends and food and cherishing some dazzling memoirs. Food is gorgeous in various phases – when it is raw, in the process of being cooked, and evidently at the time when its being served. Capturing that and writing the recipes for that has been the goal of my blog! Hope you take pleasure in reading my recipes!

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It was my very own dearest Farzana’s birthday and we both strongly believe that ‘Vegetables are a must on a diet I suggest: carrot cake, zucchini bread and pumpkin pie’ . Wink Wink! I couldn’t have thought of anything other than a luxury carrot cake recipe packed with nuts, spices and golden sultanas, the lightest of all and the most enticingly moist cake, oh yes the mighty carrot cake, oh this carrot cake bursting with the freshness of the carrots, speckled by chopped pecans, and stunned by almond flakes, the crunch from the nuts and punch from the spices, with the perfect cream cheese frosting with the lemony twist, makes this incredibly moist and soft carrot cake so delightful. Don’t even contemplate on just a tiny slice of this cake because for sure you will be back for more, not mention only a few crumbs left to mark the carrot cake only after a few moments of the cake cutting ritual. The smiles, the expressions of being so gratified with this heavenly, divine and blissful cake, are to reminisce for the rest of our lives. The cherry on cake for this post is that the photos are taken by our very own pro food photography Farzana, which makes the whole process all the more special!

Photo Courtesy: Farzana Rahman

FROSTED CARROT CAKE

INGREDIENTS

175ml sunflower oil,

175 gms muscavodo sugar,

3 eggs beaten,

175 gms grated carrots,

85 gms sultnas,

55 gms walnut pieces,

Grated rind of 1 orange,

175 gms self-raising flour,

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda,

1 tsp ground cinnamon,

½ tsp grated nutmeg,

Nuts and candy carrots to decorate

FROSTING

200 gms full-fat soft cheese,

100 gms icing sugar,

2 tsp organge juice,

½ tsp vanilla essence

Preheat the oven to 180C/ 350F/Gas Mark 4. Grease and line the base of a 8 inch square cake tin.

In a large bowl bet together the oil, muscavado sugar and eggs. Stir in the grated carrots, sultanas, walnuts an orange rind.

Sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and nutmeg, then stir evenly into the carrot mixture.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, until well-risen and firm to the touch.

Remove the cake from the oven and set on wire rack for five minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

For the frosting, combine the soft cheese, icing sugar, orange juice and vanilla essence in a bowl and beat until smooth. Spread over the top of the cake and swirl with a palette knife to give a frosted look. Decorate with nuts and candy carrots.

Craving for vanila or chocolate ? oh both! Chocolate and vanilla marble loaf! Here is the recipe for the week. Oh this loaf with the divine twirls of white and brown, so gorgeous just invokes the childhood memories of marble cake, what more I can satisfy my cravings for a vanilla and chocolate at the same time.The perfect Ying and Yang of deepchocolateandvanilla make a perfect tea time treat!

INGREDIENTS

55 gms plain chocolate,

3 tbsp milk,

70 gms unsalted butter, extra for greasing,

85 gms caster sugar,

1 egg beaten,

3 tbsp soured cream,

115 gms self-raising flour,

½ tsp baking powder,

½ tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to gas mark 3. Grease a 450 gms/ 1 lb loaf tin and line the base with a non-stick baking paper. Dust a little extra flour around the inside of the tin,

Break the chocolate into pieces, place in a small heat proof bowl with the milk and set over a suace pan of simmering water. Heat gnetly until just melted. Remove from the heat and keep aside.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffly. Beat in the egg and soured cream. Sift the flour and baking powder over the mixture, then fold in lightly and evenly using a metal spoon.

Spoon half the mixture into a separate bowl and stir in the chocolate mixture. Add the vanilla extract to the plain mixture. Spoon the Chocolate and vanilla mixture alternatively into prepared loaf tin, swirling lightly with a knife to get the marbled effect. Bake in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes or until well risen and firm to the touch.

Cool in the tin for ten minutes then turn out and finish cooling on a wire rack.